Perfect Illusion
by SapphireOwl1993
Summary: "The disembodied voice washed over Claire like a tsunami. Fear and disbelief stabbed her pounding heart.  Hearing that voice, his voice, was impossible. Albert Wesker was long gone, nothing but ashes in the remains of the Arklay Mansion." Based on The Darkside Chronicles version of Code Veronica, but with a Claire/Wesker twist. Rating for foul language only.


The cool night air ruffled the fine, wispy hairs that had escaped from Claire's ponytail and the smell of brine was thick in the air as she and Steve ascended a stone staircase, her legs protesting with every agonizing step--she willed her body to push past the exhaustion, however. The stairs lead into a small courtyard, the full moon streaking from between crumbling pillars providing the only source of illumination.

"I attacked this island upon hearing the news of an awakening. But it seems it was all a pretense."

The disembodied voice washed over Claire like a tsunami. Fear and disbelief stabbed her pounding heart. She clenched her shaking hands into fists to regain control over herself, but all for naught, her mind a dissonant jumble. Out of all of the experiences on this island, all of the zombies and fiendish creatures she's had to face thus far, this was by far the most unsettling. Hearing that voice, _his_ voice, was impossible. Albert Wesker was long gone, nothing but ashes in the remains of the Arklay Mansion. She must have finally succumbed to the trauma of the night and was hallucinating. By why him? Why now? _Because you were in love with him, idiot_ , she thought. _Still am_ , a secret part of her whispered, but she shoved that forbidden thought into the deepest crevice of her mind. She refused to consider that awful, terrifying thought, that she was still in love with that monster, not after all the things had done. What did that say about her as a person that she could still love him despite all of the betrayal and deceit? It was far more comfortable to banish the truth and live the lie that she was not in love with her own personal Judas.

" Steve?!" Claire cried. _Please tell me he heard it too_!

"Who is it?" a puzzled Steve replied.

Oh. So it was not a hallucination. But how…? Only he had that silky timbre and sophisticated lilt. Claire felt disgusted with herself at the hope and relief that welled up within her at that thought that maybe, just maybe, it was really him.

Before Claire could begin to answer Steve's query, the voice continued in a drawl that sent chills shooting down Claire's spine: "Though, ironically, I feel you will lead me to the truth, regardless."

What followed was a very palpable pause, before the voice added, almost growling, "Chris's little sister."

There was no doubt in Claire's mind that Albert Wesker was there in the flesh. How he survived impalement on a Tyrant's claw and the explosion, she did not know. But it was him. _He was alive_! her mind supplied, equal parts horrified and elated. Her thoughts swirled to a cacophony as her vision swam with unshed tears and she suppressed the urge to vomit. Had he come after her? Or was his presence on this island a mere coincidence like he had suggested?

Swiftly, the warring emotions parted and were replaced with a newly found clarity, a clarity which engendered pure rage. He was responsible for all of the mayhem and destruction she had experienced on Rockfort, just like he was for every single bad thing in her life since he'd walked into it. And he was so fucking cavalier about it, too! How dare he? All of the lives lost, at the mansion, at Raccoon City, and now here. And it was a "pretense"? What did that even mean?! Claire's shaking fist itched to punch the smug asshole's chiseled jaw. Oh, he was lucky he was not within sight of her. She didn't care how much training he had, she was going to take him down one way or another.

Steve, seemingly oblivious to the tempestuous storm inside Claire, yelled, "You're nothing more than a coward! Show yourself, damn it!"

Claire was in full agreement with Steve. Wesker was a coward. A coward for faking his death. A coward for creeping in the shadows and not even respecting her enough to reveal himself to her face. And, most importantly, he was a coward for never telling her the truth about who he was, for never truly opening up to her like she did with him. Claire had given him a part of herself that she would never get back, but she had mattered so little to Wesker that he could not have been bothered to do the same. All of the old wounds that had been festering in the background all came back to the forefront to her mind with the force of a bullet train. And to top it all off, Wesker had not deigned to reply to Steve's jab. As the silence stretched on, so did the tension. Claire started to wonder if he had had the audacity to actually leave after he dropped that much of a bomb on her without an explanation. Claire internally screamed. _That bastard_! The lack of respect was jarring, although she supposed she shouldn't be surprised at this point. _Off to ruin more lives, I expect_ , she seethed.

Claire had no idea how to explain this to Steve. It was far too personal of a matter and too difficult to explain the hows and whys of her falling in love with a psychopath. So she played dumb and said the most neutral statement she could think of: "He… he mentioned my brother's name." How inane. Of all the things she could have said, she had to mention the least important and most obvious detail. Hopefully, Steve wouldn't notice her lack of insight and would just chalk it up to her confusion at the mysterious encounter.

"What _was_ that?" Steve asked. Slightly slack-jawed and highly puzzled, he put a hand on his hip, expectantly awaiting a response.

 _Oh, just a sociopath who is hell-bent on killing everyone I care about and who I also made the mistake of falling in love with. Because that would go over oh so well_!

Claire was well and truly in a bind. She did not want to lie to Steve, but neither could she tell him any part of the truth. She was spared from responding by a pack of three zombies appearing around the corner of the building. As she and Steve filled them with lead, she mused, _Out of one hell and into another_.

 **Author's note** : Hello, everyone! Apologies about the length, but I had to cram a lot in here. I'm here to give some background on this fic. So, this is actually an excerpt from a much, much longer Claire/Wesker fic that I've been working on for quite a while. The reason why I haven't uploaded that instead is that I keep writing out of order, which is unusual for me. This story just comes to me in bits and pieces, and I write them accordingly. I decided that this would make a good stand alone story. I am still including it in the long work as well, but it will probably be a little different in that iteration, I'm not sure. Also, the title is from the Lady Gaga song of the same name.

I really just wanted to write about Claire's reaction when she finds out that Wesker didn't die in the Arklay Mansion incident. I used the Darkside Chronicles version because Wesker beating up Claire like he did in the original game just didn't sit right with me with where they are in their relationship. It would have been full on abuse, and I just didn't feel comfortable tackling that loaded subject and supporting their relationship without it seeming like I was glorifying it. It was just easier to do without. As for their history… without giving much away, they develop a secret romantic relationship before the events of the first game, and Claire is completely unaware of Wesker's true nature. All of that changes when she learns of his betrayal of S.T.A.R.S and his supposed demise. There is way more to it than that, but I don't want to give away too much. I guess you guys probably figured out all of that from just reading the story, but I wanted to include it just in case. Anyway, au revoir, and thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review to let me know what you think! :)


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